The present invention is in the field of wire harness type electrical connectors used in automotive electrical systems to connect one set of terminated wires to another through a sealed partition or wall.
Terminated wires in automotive electrical systems are commonly connected using plug-type connectors where a first set of wires is terminated in one connector housing, and a second set of wires is terminated in a mating connector housing, the two connectors mating in male-female fashion to bring the sets of wires into secure electrical connection inside the housings. Various locking mechanisms are used to keep the terminals locked securely in their respective connectors, and/or to keep the mated connectors locked together.
There are situations in automotive electrical systems where terminated wires must be connected across a watertight or airtight wall or barrier. For watertight connections one or both of the connectors and their wires/terminals may be provided with gaskets, seals, and waterproofing compounds to prevent leaks around the connectors, and to prevent leaks through the connectors around the wires and terminals. However, in situations calling for an airtight seal across a pressure differential it is known that electrical wires can convey air along their lengths between their insulation and conductor layers. Over time this can reduce or eliminate the vacuum or pressure differential.
One approach to preventing air leaks through the wires has been to connect the terminated wires on each side of the wall to the ends of solid metal terminals that pass through the wall in sealed fashion. This is typically accomplished with a three-part xe2x80x9crelayxe2x80x9d connector system. A double-ended relay connector is mounted with an airtight seal to the wall separating the pressure differential, for example using a gasket. The relay connector is internally divided and sealed with a partition or bulkhead through which the solid terminals pass in airtight fashion. Once mounted in the wall separating the pressure differential, the relay connector is able to receive mating terminated-wire connectors at both ends.
One method for mounting the solid terminals in the relay connector""s bulkhead is to insert-mold them into the bulkhead as the plastic relay connector housing is formed. To ensure that the terminals are well-sealed, their bulkhead-embedded middle portions are sometimes coated with a sealant material prior to the molding operation. Another sealing technique leaves pockets or recesses in the bulkhead where the embedded portions of the terminals exit the bulkhead so that a sealant can be forced into the pockets after the molding process, for example by centrifuging.
The embedded, sealed terminals in the bulkhead connector are typically male terminals, and the mating connectors accordingly contain sets of female-terminated wires that plug into the embedded male terminals. The resulting electrical connection through the relay connector is intended to be both water- and air-tight.
A problem with the above-described method of sealing the embedded terminals is that the sealant forced into the terminal pockets can be driven through small gaps left by the molding process between the plastic bulkhead and the embedded metal of the terminals, leaving the gaps unsealed.
A problem with the three-part relay connector arrangement is its need for connector mating and locking structure on both sides of the relay connector. This is suitable where access can be freely had to both sides of the wall in which the relay connector is mounted, and where wire harnesses with connector housings are located on both sides of the wall. But in cases where access is difficult or no wire harness exists, for example where an electrical connection needs to be made directly to an electrical device in a sealed chamber such as the vacuum chamber of a brake booster, the three-part relay connector system is not as desirable. For example, the typical connector-locking structure on the exterior of the mating and relay connectors is not usually designed for insertion through the same aperture. And although the problem of retaining or locking individual terminated wires in a connector housing is often resolved with internal terminal-locking structure, the sealed, partitioned nature of a relay-type bulkhead connector does not lend itself to conventional terminal-locking structure, as such structure is difficult to seal.
The present invention is a two-part connector system in which a sealed, relay-type bulkhead connector makes an airtight electrical connection through the wall of a sealed pressure vessel or chamber by securely accepting and retaining unsealed female-terminated wires on the sealed chamber side, and mating them through embedded male terminals with a mating female connector on the ambient side of the chamber.
The bulkhead connector has an ambient connector end for receiving a mating female-terminal connector in conventional fashion, and an external airtight seal to the ambient side of the sealed chamber wall. The other end of the bulkhead connector is designed to directly receive individual female-terminated wires and to be inserted through an aperture in the wall into the sealed chamber. A terminal locking member is inserted orthogonally into the chamber end of the connector to lock the female-terminated wires in place on their respective embedded male terminals.
The lack of a sealable mating connector on the chamber-side makes the seal between the bulkhead connector""s partition and the embedded relay terminals extremely important, and the invention further includes a structure for improving the manner in which a sealant is used to ensure an airtight seal around the embedded portions of the molded-in terminals.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon a further reading of the specification in light of the accompanying drawings.